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On Friday, five days after they were found by rescuers, Rachel was released from Wellington Hospital.

The 22-year-old, who is in New Zealand on a student exchange at Massey University, has returned to Palmerston North and her 47-year-old mother, who was not injured, is likely to begin her journey home to the United States today.

They remained overwhelmingly grateful to those who helped them, including Wellington Hospital, Massey University and US Embassy staff, and the search and rescue teams who plucked them from their life-threatening predicament. They were already thinking about how to "pay it forward".

"I'm hoping to do some awareness work with search and rescue," Rachel said. "I think they're doing such a great job and I want to give something back. I want to pay it forward, although I'll never be able to completely repay the people who saved my life."

Her mother felt the same, but that was no surprise, Rachel said.

"She has spent her life serving others. I'm a little biased, though - she just saved my life and has been the best mom in the world for the last 22 years."

One way to help would be to raise awareness of New Zealand track markers, especially for overseas visitors, she said.

The duo became lost after following blue discs, which they believed were track markers, but which were for possum tracking.